1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates to a liquid crystal display device being stably driven.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the information society spreads, the requirements for display devices are varied and gradually increasing. In accordance therewith, a variety of display devices such as liquid crystal display (LCD) devices, plasma display panels (PDP), electro-luminescent display (ELD) devices, and so on, have been researched. Some display devices already have been widely produced.
More specifically, LCD devices are rapidly replacing cathode ray tubes (CRTs), because they have features such as superior picture quality, light weight, slimness, low power consumption, and so on. These LCD devices are being developed in a variety of shapes which are applied to notebook computer monitors, television display screens, and so on.
Such LCD devices include an LCD panel displaying pictures, and drivers driving the LCD panel. The drivers includes a gate driver generating gate scan signals which are applied to gate lines on the LCD panel, and a data driver generating pixel data voltages which are applied to data lines on the LCD panel.
The LCD panel includes first and second substrates and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first and second substrates. The first substrate is defined by the data lines and the gate lines into pixel regions. Also, the first substrate includes thin film transistors formed at respective intersection regions of the gate lines and the data lines, and pixel electrodes connected to the respective thin film transistors. The second substrate includes red, green, and blue color filters formed in respective pixel regions, and a black matrix formed between the color filters. A common electrode can be formed on the color filters.
This LCD panel allows the thin film transistor to be turned on by the gate scan signal which is applied to the gate line, so that the pixel data voltage on the data line is applied to the pixel electrode through the turned-on thin film transistor. At this time, a common voltage is applied to the common electrode. In accordance therewith, an electric field is generated by a voltage difference between the pixel data voltage on the pixel electrode and the common voltage on the common electrode, and controls an alignment direction of liquid crystal molecule included in the liquid crystal layer, thereby adjusting a light transmittance of the liquid crystal layer. As a result, a picture (or an image) can be displayed on the LCD panel.
However, the LCD device in the related art has a disadvantage in that the data driver generating the pixel data voltages is frequently damaged by means of static electricity from the exterior.
More specifically, the data driver includes a multiplexer alternatively applying positive and negative polarity pixel data voltages to the data lines every one horizontal period. The multiplexer includes a plurality of switches which are connected to the respective data lines in configuration. The plural switches are generally formed in a connection configuration which is adjacent to a power supply terminal (or a power supply source) and a ground terminal (or a ground source). Due to this, when the static electricity is input from the exterior to the switches, the adjacent power supply and the ground terminals can be connected to each other and/or to the internal wirings of the data driver. Accordingly, the input electricity should be applied to other circuits inside the data driver. As a result, elements and wirings on the inside of the data driver can be damaged.